Chargers roll by Streamwood

By the time Dundee-Crown center Kate Pilson looked up at the scoreboard, the Chargers were up 22-3.

Pilson, who had 12 of those 22 points, had guided her team by dominating Streamwood in the paint in the opening round of the Dundee-Crown Thanksgiving Tournament. The Chargers (1-0) went on to score 22 more points in the third period and Pilson finished with 20 as D-C rolled past the Sabers 55-33.

"That's what we wanted to do," Pilson said. "I can put it in. (And) I love our guards."

The Chargers' backcourt of senior Kathleen Collingbourne and sophomore Sierra Dunner each made a lot of Pilson's scoring possible.

Playing in her first varsity game, Dunner finished with 5 of her 7 assists in the first period and added 10 points. Collingbourne scored just 2 points, but finished with 9 assists and added 5 steals.

"It was Dunner's first game and she did a nice job," D-C coach Joe Komaromy said. "Kathleen has really worked on her penetration and getting the ball down low."

After falling down 22-3 after the first quarter, Streamwood (0-1) found itself in a hole it could not crawl out of. The main problem for the Sabers came with the lack of size down low. Without a post player to stop Pilson, the Chargers were able to rack up big numbers in the paint.

"We let her do whatever she wanted," Sabres' coach George Rosner said. "Take away those first four minutes and it's a whole different ball game."

After allowing 22 points in the first quarter, Streamwood outscored D-C 8-4 in the second period. Emma Schmidt, who scored all 3 points in the first quarter, put in 4 of her team-high 9 points in the second quarter as Streamwood cut the deficit to 26-11 by halftime.

"We got out of our rhythm," Komaromy said.

D-C got its groove back in a hurry in the second half.

The Chargers poured a second helping of 22 points on Streamwood, with Robyn Staudenmaier doing the damage. The senior scored 8 of her 12 points in the third period and hit a pair of 3-pointers to extend the Chargers' lead to 48-23 by the time the fourth quarter had begun. Alex Lococo scored all 4 of her points in the third period and Pilson added another 4.

Ashley Bartelt added 3 steals in the fourth quarter to seal the victory. Streamwood starter Ryanne Mark sprained her ankle in the first quarter and did not return. Rosner said she was questionable for the Sabres' next game.

St. Viator 33, Jacobs 26: St. Viator opened its girl's basketball season exactly the way it wanted to.

The Lions got Jacobs star Markie Rahn in foul trouble early, took a 12-6 first-quarter lead and never trailed again, winning their opening game of the Dundee-Crown Thanksgiving Tournament 33-26 over Jacobs.

"It was big for us," St. Viator coach Paul Bjerkness said. "They jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but after that we were able to stabilize them. It was good for us to come out with intensity."

Stabilizing Jacobs, meant getting Rahn out of the game.

Rahn (4 points, 4 steals), one of only 2 seniors listed on the Golden Eagles' roster, picked up her second foul just 2 minutes, 5 seconds into the game. Jacobs then watched St. Viator (1-0) turn a 4-0 deficit into a 12-2 run to close out the quarter.

"That hurt us," Jacobs coach Ed Haugens said of Rahn's foul trouble. "She's a sound offensive player."

Led by 7 points from Jenny Muench, St. Vaitor stormed back.

Tori Callero (3 points, 3 assists, 3 steals) broke a 4-all tie after splitting a pair of free throws with 2:51 remaining in the first quarter. The senior extended the lead to 7-5 after picking off a pass in the Jacobs backcourt and taking it in for the score. Muench nailed a 3-pointer less than a minute later to put St. Viator up 10-4.

"It was a good relief," Muench said of the scoring run. "Everybody calmed down. Confidence was huge. Everyone played unselfish."

Jacobs pulled within 29-26 with 4:38 remaining in the game, but could never close the gap. Keri Bultman (6 points) pulled the Golden Eagles within one possession when she connected on a jumper midway through the fourth period, but St. Viator's defense would fail to let the Golden Eagles score the rest of the way.

Jacobs' missed its final 5 shots of the game.

St. Viator point guard Kelly Hendricks scored the next basket when she made it 31-26 with 1:41 left to play. The junior then stole the ball, ran the court and drew the foul and sank both free throws to extend the lead to 33-26.

Hendricks (6 points, 2 steals) scored the Lions' first 2 points after collecting a steal and running the length of the floor.

Jacobs' did win the rebounding battle 28-21, with sophomore Hailey Cnota (11 rebounds, 2 blocks) finishing with 8 in the first half. Sophomore Maria Tamburia and senior Stephanie Lemy added 6 points apiece for Jacobs.

-- Matt Stacionis

Keith Country Day 34, Westminster Christian 31: The Warriors (0-2) battled their way to a 31-31 tie by scoring at the last second in regulation time, but fell in the overtime session at the Rockford Christian tournament. Rachel Doby led Westminster with 10 points and 15 rebounds.. Beth Kautz added 9 points and 11 rebounds.